Soybean growers in Ontario are now seeing the impact of difficult spring planting conditions and a roller coaster growing season as they survey variability in crop maturity that’s visible across farms and fields.
On this episode of RealAgriculture Soybean School, BASF Canada agronomist Rob Miller offers tips on how to time harvest aid herbicide treatments that could prove tricky given the uneven maturity in many fields. His first piece of advice for growers is to “forget about the leaves and look at the pods.” He wants the crop to be clear of green stems and to hear seeds rattling in the pod. He also recommends growers focus on the entire field and always check the herbicide product label to ensure they have the right application window to avoid the risk of herbicides residue in the grain at harvest.
Miller notes that a product like Eragon LQ, for example, requires 80 to 90 per cent leaf drop before application. “Be fashionably late,” he says. “It’s always better to wait a couple of extra days versus getting on there too early.”
Miller also discusses how a fast advancing soybean crop that looks to be seven to 10 days ahead of schedule could impact growers’ plans for fall weed control. He notes that early leaf drop allows more light to penetrate the canopy and hit the ground. Those leaves will provide some ground coverage, but the combination of light and good soil moisture will produce weed flushes much earlier than they typically would occur. “That means the winter annuals — the chickweeds, the dandelions, the annual bluegrass — those are the weeds that are going to continue to flush and going to be tougher to kill.”
In the video, Miller offers tips to tackle weeds like sow thistle, dandelion and chickweed. He also discusses how an early frost can impact weeds control and how growers can effectively utilize cover crop burndowns to optimize fall weed control.
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